The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: A Curse for True Love

Series: Once Upon a Broken Heart #3

Author: Stephanie Garber

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: 4.75 stars

Review

Evangeline seems to finally have her happy ending. She is married to a handsome prince and lives in a castle. But Evangeline doesn’t know what she did to get this happy ending. She doesn’t know what she lost, and her husband wants to make sure she doesn’t remember, but first he needs to kill Jacks.

This book had me gasping at parts. I already knew what was going to happen because I spoil things for myself because I am pretty sure I would panic if I didn’t know what was coming. Don’t let this fool you though! I didn’t know everything or all the small intricate details! I was gasping at some parts and swooning at others. Really loved this conclusion.

Jacks and Evangeline are really going to kill me. They are so freaking cute and the romance in this one! My word! I think I spent most of the book screaming that they needed to get together.

The romantic tension between Jacks and Evangeline has been building and noticeable since book one. With the ending the of The Ballad of Never After we didn’t quite know where they would leave off. Of course, their interactions were strong and amazing through this whole book, and getting some of Jacks perspective was everything! Despite the fact that they have practically been in a relationship for the whole series, I wanted more time of them being together! It was kept to the last twenty to thirty pages of the book, and while amazing, I want more!

I will say it took me a minute to get into this book, which shocked me. I have been engrossed with this series, but I felt like this novel had a slow start. It was probably because Jacks didn’t come in until around 100 pages. As you can guess, Jacks is probably my favorite. 

Stephanie Garber did it again. She wrote a really good series but left the big antagonists to the last book. In my review for Once Upon a Broken Heart, I mentioned how this series didn’t really have an antagonist. There were people they fought against but not really a BAD GUY. This book introduces a bad guy/bad people. However they weren’t developed enough for me. I understood the stakes and I grew to dislike the antagonists, but I wanted more from them and to understand their story and reasoning even more. (Spoiler: the antagonists were Apollo and Aurora Valor. I felt like I got enough from Apollo to properly despise him, but I needed more from Aurora.) 

The Valors were in this book, but I, again, wanted more. I wanted to understand their relationships and how they were doing in the new world. I especially wanted more of Castor and the Valors and LaLa and the Valors. 

I mention this in The Ballad of Never After that this series has a history to it. This was super apparent in Jacks’ chapters. That feeling was still there, but this book made me want it to go deeper.

I feel like side characters were pushed to the side for Jacks and Evangeline’s story. I understand that, but I wish there was more time for these characters and conclusions to their stories.

I liked the ending, but I think the bonus epilogues are better. I found both the Barnes and Noble, as well as the Waterstone bonus epilogues online. I thought they were really good, and I think it was more of a conclusion than the original. It gave us a better look at Evangeline and Jacks after the events of the book.

I really loved this book and this series. It was a wonderful romantasy series, with two spectacular main characters. There was romance, magic, multiple point of views, and new antagonists. If you’re looking for a magical romance, this series is for you!

Quotes

“I am a monster, but whether you remember it or not, I’m your monster, Evangeline.”

“The story of Evangeline and Jacks. And it was a beautiful story, her new favorite story.”

“I used to wonder if fate was real. I used to fear it meany that it meant that I had no real choices. Then I secretly hoped fate was real and that you and I were fated, that by some miraculous chance I was your true love. But now I don’t care if fate is real-because I don’t need it to decide for me. I’ve made my decision, Jacks. It’s you. It will always be you, until the end of time. And I’ll fight fate or anyone else who tries to tear us apart- including you. You are my choice. You are my love. You are mine. And you are not going to be the end of me, Jacks.”

“I already told you. You are the love of my life. You are mine, Jacks of the Hollow. And you’re not going to be the end of me.”